This Day in History – July 31, 1961

Laurence Fishburne III is born in Augusta, Georgia

On this day in 1961, Laurence Fishburne III was born in Augusta, Georgia. He was raised in Brooklyn by his single mother. One of his earliest roles was acting on the soap opera One Life to Live before going on to find success acting in Cornbread, Earl and Me in 1975 at the age of fourten. Fishburne starred in Boyz n the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do with It, The Matrix movies, Mission: Impossible III, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Man of Steel. In 2014, he returned to television from movies and starred in the sitcom Black-ish.

He played the role of Morpheus in The Matrix movies, which has earned him a great deal of recognition. He has also starred in plenty of lesser-known films such as Akeelah and the Bee, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Cadence, Higher Learning, Othello, Mystic River, and Hoodlum.

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Fishburne received a Tony Award and an Emmy for his roles in Two Trains Running and Tribeca, respectively. He has also appeared on the popular TV series CSI, for which he also received an Emmy.

Fishburne has also dabbled into screenwriting and directing, with his film Once in a Lifetime.

Fishburne married his first wife, Hajna Moss, in 1985 and had two children with her named Montana and Langston. He divorced from Moss and married Cuban actress Gina Torres on September 22nd, 2005. The two had a daughter together named Delilah.

Laurence Fishburne is one of the most successful African American actors of our time. He is certainly an inspiration to African American actors across the country and across the globe.